Life after death at ‘Downton Abbey’

six months on, and she is still wearing black and refuses to come out of mourning.”

Without divulging spoilers, it’s fair to say Lady Mary is a bit much in her grief. As the season progresses, men fairly trip over her. She may have grown listless and pale but remains gorgeous and captivating, and she has her choice of suitors.

“Downton Abbey,” a genuine global phenomenon, continues to enchant as it reveals the mannered world of an estate in the English countryside between the world wars.

“I was surprised when it became so popular because I thought it was so quintessentially English,” Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham, says.

PBS’ most popular show ever devotes as much of its plot to the servants as it does to the gentry.

Tom Branson, played by Allen Leech, is the only character who has been both. He was a chauffeur who married Lady Sybil, who died after giving birth to their daughter. Branson has never been comfortable among the rich, but now manages Downton and is considered family.